With Michael Fassbender's terrific Western Slow West opening wider this week, plus the success of shows like Hell on Wheels, Hatfields & McCoys, and Justified, the genre is definitely back in fashion. Which makes this the perfect time to tell the story of a true unsung legend of the Old West, African-American gunslinger and Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves, with Morgan Freeman set to play him.
Freeman is developing and will star in an untitled event miniseries for HBO, with the great John Sayles (Matewan, Lone Star) adapting Art T. Burton’s biography Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life And Legend Of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves. Born into slavery in 1838, Reeves eventually fled during the Civil War and took up residence in Oklahoma (then Indian Territory) where he went on to become one of the first black U.S. Deputy Marshals and a legendary lawman, capturing more than 3,000 outlaws. He was known for his expert shooting skills and ability with disguises, which may be why some say Bass was the inspiration for The Lone Ranger.
This is a project Freeman has been trying to mount since 1993, not long after he starred in Unforgiven. Here's what he had to say (via Deadline) about it...
“I always wanted to do my own Western that was going to be it. This is a black man in America’s legendary Western history who has been totally overlooked. Any chance I get to revisit historical moments of our country is important to me.”
